Jameis Winston's father said he wants Florida State to provide more protection for the Seminoles' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and baseball right-fielder/closer.
Incident report suggests Jameis Winston didn't just forget to pay for groceries
But it seems that the Florida State already is providing ample protection to their star athlete.
CBSSports.com reported Monday that Seminoles football coach Jimbo Fisher said Winston will face no further punishment for his shoplifting citation in which he took $32 worth of steamed crab legs and crawfish out of a Publix grocery story without paying.
"He won't," Fisher told two reporters during the first day of the ACC spring meetings, according to CBSSports.com. "His punishment went through the school and through baseball."
Fisher then went on to say that he never considered disciplining Winston because, "He's in baseball, now."
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"If he would have been in football only, he would have been suspended from football activities only until we took care of all those things," Fisher told reporters. "To him, that's [missing baseball] just as devastating. To me too, I like baseball."
As CBSSports.com counter-argued, "A reason for perhaps considering a football penalty: The Heisman Trophy winner is on scholarship in football only."
But Fisher also is abiding from the same sentiment as Winston's statement that he hopes and prays "I hope and pray my friends and family will view me as the 20-year-old young man that I am, and support me through this unfortunate situation."
Said Fisher on Monday, ""I'm glad I'm not playing today. It's not an excuse for him. ... Think of all the things you did when you were 18-22.
"You have to educate them, what you think should happen and how it should happen. I ask any parent this: How many of your kids are perfect? How many of your kids did something wrong that sometimes people out there didn't know? Did you throw them all away?
"Did you kick them out? They're your kids."
He's right; parents don't throw their kids away or kick them out when they do something wrong.
They discipline them.
The idea behind that is that it is a deterrent to the kid not to do something wrong the next time.
And if Fisher is to take heat for doing nothing to Winston, then what of Winston's father, who told USA TODAY Sports that he feels comfortable with his son's blunder? Antonor Winston's only advice would have been to call the store when he realized he'd forgotten to pay?
How about advising Winston to actually going back to the store to pay?
Antonor Winston is correct when he says that few athletes face the scrutiny that Winston and former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel have had to deal with. For 20-year-olds, that would be a difficult dynamic of trying to cope without a private life.
Manziel took advantage of his popularity with his public appearances at various sporting events, as well as in his nightlife.
That has nothing to do with walking out of a grocery store without paying for food, as Winston did. An incident report released about Winston suggests that he knowingly tried to avoid walking in front of security guard with the food.
And if that isn't enough of a red flag to those in charge of Winston's college experience, what Winston's staunch supporters have conveniently forgotten - or are ignoring - is the accusation Winston faced in December of a sexual assault.
The fact that Winston was never charged apparently allowed the school to wipe its hands clean of the matter, when those in charge of Winston should be reading reports such as the New York Times' article last month of how badly the case against Winston was handled, which became the biggest reason that charges never were brought.
If Fisher, baseball coach Mike Martin - who suspended Winston four days while he performed 20 hours of community service to have the citation taken off his record - believe unequivocally that Winston is innocent of the sexual assault allegation, then what an opportunity they had to educate Winston on being in the media spotlight and under constant media scrutiny.
That education apparently has not yet taken place. Nor did it take place after the incident report accusing Winston of dodging the security guard.
Too many red flags seem to be present for Fisher, Martin and Antonor Winston to explain away with words and not hold the Heisman Trophy winner accountable for at the very least putting himself in multiple bad situations and casting a negative image on the school's athletic department.
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